South African Minister of State Security Dipuo Letsatsi-Duba makes it clear that while the Jewish community is under no particular threat, the department of state security takes seriously its mandate to protect the country’s citizens.

Lawyers are preparing criminal and civil charges following one of the darkest weeks of anti-Semitism in South Africa. There have been a slew of vile incidents that sent shock waves through the community.

The SA Friends of the Beit Halochem Zahal Disabled Veterans Organisation was established in Johannesburg in 1982, its primary goal being to help and support Zahal disabled veterans by raising funds to help them return and resume their normal lives as soon as possible.

Dr Ali Bacher, former South African cricket captain and administrator, was one of the five recipients of the 2018 Steve Tshwete Lifetime Achievement Awards at the SA Sport Awards held in Bloemfontein on Sunday night.

Devotion to the cause of the State of Israel flourishes in the most unlikely places, even in societies where the Jewish presence is small to non-existent. Such is the case in Mozambique, where the work of Beth-El Associacao Crista Amigos De Israel - Mozambican Christian Friends of Israel - testifies to how much can be achieved by those inspired by their Christian faith to promote the Israeli cause, despite adverse conditions.

JNF’s unique “Blue Boy Box” now lives at King David Linksfield Pre-Primary so that children of each generation learn the importance of tzedakah (charity or welfare). It is the responsibility of Jews all over the world to build Israel, develop it and nurture it as the home of the Jewish nation

“Knowledge is Light” was our school motto when I was a child in Durban. The importance of education was made clear to us from as far back as I can remember. It wasn’t taken for granted. A good education was a privilege.

Late on Tuesday, a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas went into effect. While at the time of writing the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) had still not confirmed the existence of such a truce, Israeli citizens living in the south of the country were told they could return home and to “normalcy”.

The Israeli gymnastics team was out in full force at 48th FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Championships that began at Aspire Dome in Doha, Qatar, on Thursday. There are five males and two females in the team headed by new Israeli sensation Artem Dolgopyat. The others are Alexander Shatilov, Ilan Korchak, Andrey Medvedev, and Michael Sorokine, while the women are Ofir Netzer and Meitar Lavy.

As I was heading home on Tuesday, I heard on ChaiFM that 460 rockets had been fired from Gaza into Israel since late Sunday. That is an outrageous number. If every one of them hit inhabited areas, thousands of Israelis would have been killed.

“The president is not directly responsible for acts of domestic terrorism, but he should be more careful with his language.” That’s the way the Economist headlined its report on the horrific Pittsburgh killings just more than two weeks ago.

With Prince William’s historic visit to Israel this week, all eyes have been trained on the Jewish capital. It may have taken 70 years, but the first official visit by a member of the British Royal family began in Israel on Monday, when William, the Duke of Cambridge, arrived in Tel Aviv.

Some 5 600 emissaries (shluchim) from Chabad-Lubavitch from all over the world gathered at the Pier 8 warehouse in Brooklyn, New York this week for the opening of their four-day annual international conference and banquet, 75 years after the arrival of the Lubavitcher Rebbe Menachem Mendel Schneerson, from Europe.

“The greatness of our nation is that our people are great. We are a nation of heroes, of people with good and decent moral fibre who will not tolerate our country being plundered!” So said Chief Rabbi Warren Goldstein in Pretoria this morning.“This is a struggle for accountability and justice,” Goldstein told the crowd (which included prominent Jewish CEOs like Adrian Gore, Stephen Koseff and Michael Katz). “This struggle is about sovereignty. The power of the people always triumphs in the end.”

No-one immune from terrorist threat

As has been widely reported, earlier this week four individuals in Johannesburg were arrested in an anti-terror raid. On Monday, two of the suspects appeared in the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court, where they were charged with three counts of contravening the Protection of Constitutional Democracy against Terrorist and Related Activities Act.

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JEFF KATZ | Jul 13, 2016

According to the provisional charge sheet, the suspects allegedly planned to carry out bombing attacks against a US mission and unspecified “Jewish institutions” in South Africa.

Reports of alleged terrorist plots within our society are deeply concerning, particularly when, as in this case, our own community has been named as a target. We must however always bear in mind that this is a global, not a specifically South African problem.

As SAJBD Vice-President Zev Krengel put it when approached for comment by the media: “We know and we’ve always known, that no one is safe anywhere,” adding that we worked closely with South African authorities and would continue to do so.

In many other countries, reports of planned terrorist attacks, including ones explicitly aimed at Jewish institutions, being discovered and thwarted, have been a regular occurrence.

Among the countries with sizable Jewish populations where this has occurred are the US, France, Belgium, Germany, the UK and Australia. This is in addition to the continual atrocities being carried out in various African countries, including Nigeria, Kenya, Cameroon and Somalia.

In view of these realities, it was reasonable to anticipate that a terrorist threat might one day surface in South Africa as well. In this case, thankfully, the potential danger has so far been successfully averted and we fully commend the South African authorities on their decisive action.

In addition to what the national security establishment is doing, our community itself must do all that it can to ensure our own safety. I urge all community members to continue their vigilance and report any suspicious activity to the CSO immediately on 086 1800 018. Should you require any advice in improving the security of your installation, please e-mail [email protected].

Kudos for Memorial Foundation’s Marlene Bethlehem

Warmest congratulations to SAJBD Past President Marlene Bethlehem, who was confirmed as the new president of the Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture at its recent meeting in Mexico.

That one of our own has been elected to head up this prestigious organisation is a signal honour not just for Marlene, but for the whole of South African Jewry.

The MFJC was established after the Second World War with the primary purpose of rebuilding Jewish life in post-Holocaust Europe. It has since become a dynamic vehicle for grooming future Jewish leaders in all parts of the world, largely through its flagship Nahum Goldmann Fellowship Programme project.

Graduates of the latter include a number of senior SAJBD professional staff members and lay leaders. The close fruitful relationship that exists between the Board and the Foundation has very largely been due to Marlene’s dedicated efforts over many years.

1 Comment

1
nat cheiman
13 Jul

I disagree that this is a global problem. Many countries do not have this threat.
However, it is a threat in SA and with respect, that is our problem as Jews. Whether or not Belgium/France Sweden etc have this problem is irrelevant in the scheme of things.
That is also one of the reasons I commented that it was unwise to have non Jews, more especially, those of the Islamic faith, pray in our shuls, orthodox or reform.It remains hazardous.